All In (4 page)

“Yes, sir. It’s nice to meet you, Mr.
Parkman.”

“Polite. I like that. But how about we
let my father be Mr. Parkman and you just call me Vic, alright?” he
says in a light friendly tone. “So, Mr. B says you’re good with
cars?”

“Uh, yeah I guess,” I say modestly. “I
helped my grandpa restore a classic we found in the junkyard.
Engines are my specialty.”

“That’s cool. That’s how I got started
fixing cars too, helping my dad out in the garage.” He gestures to
the car he just rolled out from under. “Well, around here only the
certified mechanics can do the tune ups.” I nod and follow Vic
through a short hallway and into a large tiled room with drains on
the concrete floor. “So, you my friend, will be washing and
detailing the cars.” He hands me a clean rag and a bottle of Armor
All with a grin. “Tips for detailing get split fifty-fifty between
you and the valet. Cool?”

Fine by me. As long as it keeps me in
the back and out of trouble like Mr. Billings wants, and keeps the
paychecks coming in, I’m all good.

After being introduced to the rest of
the mechanics, the detailing crew, and a few of the valet staff, I
get to work detailing a sweet Mercedes SUV. I take my time to make
sure it’s perfect before I pull it out of the garage for the valet
to pick up.

I work on four more cars before the
garage starts to close for the night, and Vic seems pleased with my
work.

“Nice job today, kid.”

“Thanks,” I say back while filling out
my time card.

“Hey, Lane?” A valet named Pete cranes
his head around the doorjamb into the back office where I’m
sitting.

“Yeah?”

“Dude, I need to bail out like right
away, but that SUV guy isn’t back yet. Think you can stick around
until he is?” he asks, but it sounds more like a plea. “You can
have the whole tip.”

I look at the clock on the wall. “No
prob.” Luckily dish duty doesn’t start until tomorrow, and whatever
he needs to do sounds urgent.

“Thanks, dude, you rock. I owe you
one.” Pete slaps his palm against the painted cinder wall before
taking off. I hear him shout into the garage about a kegger at his
house and it makes me laugh. Yep. Urgent.

I sit around the office for another
twenty minutes until the SUV owner is back and ready for his car. I
pull it around front and do my best impression of a
valet.

“Sir,” I say, stepping out and taking
his valet ticket. “May I help you with your clubs?”

“No, that’s fine, thanks though.” He
puts his clubs in the back then walks to the driver’s side and
sticks his head inside. I assume to check my work. “Nice,” he says,
discreetly handing me a tip. “It was a disaster when I dropped it
off. Thanks, man.”

“Thank you, sir. Have a nice evening.”
I pocket the cash without looking at it until I’m walking back to
my car a few moments later. I pull out the tip and come to an
abrupt stop in the middle of the parking lot when I see a hundred
dollar bill.

“What the…” I stare at the bill in
shock. This must be a mistake. Did he think he was handing me a ten
and accidentally gave me a hundred? I turn to head back to the
clubhouse, hoping to catch him before he leaves, when the shine of
headlights temporarily blinds me.

“Hey,” a guy calls out and when my
eyes finally adjust I see it’s him. I knew it was a
mistake.

“Oh hey… sorry, man. I was just coming
back to find you. Here you go.” I stick my hand in his window to
hand him back the cash, but he looks at me confused.

“Your money?” I say, jutting my arm in
a bit further, so he doesn’t have to lean to grab it. “I figured it
was a mistake, but I swear I just saw it or I would have handed it
back right away.”

“What? No, dude, no mistake. My car
was a wreck. You earned every bit of that.”

I pull my arm back out of his window
slowly, trying to decide if he’s messing with me or not. “You
sure?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he says, waving me off,
but not in a rude way. I shove the money back in my pocket and
think about how pissed Pete’s gonna be when he hears I got a
hundred dollar tip. “I just stopped to check out that ride.” He
gestures behind me, and I have to step back to see what he’s
looking at.

“Oh, thanks, man,” I say and can’t
help but admire it too.

“That’s yours? That. Is. Sick.” He
whistles like he’s cat calling a girl. “A ‘67 Cobra,
right?”

“No, it’s actually the ‘66 AC
427.”

He pulls his car into the empty spot
next to mine and gets out for a closer look. “Damn.”

“Yours isn’t too bad either,” I say of
his black G-class Mercedes SUV with the extra sport package and
dual side exhausts. Perfect for off-roading if you dare take a
hundred and twenty thousand dollar car out like that, which by the
amount of mud I washed off of it earlier, he does.

“Thanks, man, but she’s no classic
like yours.” He runs his hand appreciatively along the side of her.
“Do you ever take her out?” he asks.

“Yeah, a few times I’ve pushed her
hard up on Beach Bluff Road during the off season when the island’s
empty.”

“Oh, you’re from around here?” He
sounds surprised. “I would have guessed you were working during
summer break from college, like most of the club’s
staff.”

“Well, I guess technically I am. I’m
headed for college in the fall.”

“Yeah? Where to?”

“Yale,” I say, then stand a little
taller when he looks up in surprise.

“Dude. No way! Nice work, Eli.” He
reaches out to shake my hand, and I’m not exactly sure how to
respond.

“Uh, it’s Lane actually,” I say and
that makes him laugh. It doesn’t feel mean spirited though, more
like an inside joke I’m just not getting.

“Man, I totally miss being a
freshman.” He shakes his head, still smiling. “Hey, Lane, I’m
Andrew. Sorry about that, Eli is just a nickname us Yalies call
each other.” I must still look confused because he pats me on the
shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out once you get there,
and hey, now you know someone who can help show you the
ropes.”

“That’s cool. Nice to meet you,” I say
still embarrassed. “Hey, aren’t you going to the party?” I nod over
my shoulder toward the clubhouse.

“Yeah, I’m headed in. Parents wouldn’t
let me out of it,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“Well, it looks like it’s gonna be
nice,” I say, walking to the driver side of my car. “I guess have a
good time and uh, thanks again for the tip.”

“Yeah, no problem.” He gives my car
one last admiring look before pulling out a sport coat from the
back of his car. “Hey, Lane, you busy tonight?” he asks, putting on
the jacket and adjusting the sleeves.

“Uh, no. Not really.” It’s a
statement, but the way I say it, it sounds more like a
question.

“You should totally come hang out
later. A bunch of us are going up to the bluffs after the club,
kind of an after party. There’ll be a few more Elis there I can
introduce you to and I know a few of the guys would love to check
out your ride. Seriously, you should come by.”

What I should do is decline. I don’t
hang with the vacationers, I work for them. But it would be good to
meet some more students, and this guy seems cool. What the hell? It
is summer after all. And what’s the harm in a little party, even if
it is with the Stays?

“Yeah. I’ll swing by. Thanks,
man.”

Ashley

“Hey, sis.”

“Hey, yourself. Nice of you to show
up, even if it is an hour late.” I smile, relieved he’s finally
here. “And how was golf?”

“We played a hundred dollars a hole,
and I made nine hundred bucks, so I guess you could say it was
pretty good.” He takes a champagne flute from a waiter passing by,
and then nudges me with his elbow. “What’d you do all
afternoon?”

I scan the room making sure no one can
hear me complain. “Mother set me up on a lunch date with Gregory,
and he was …well, Gregory,” I say flatly. Andrew understands
exactly what I mean.

“Sorry, Ash, I would have joined you
two as a buffer if I’d known before hitting the course. I actually
talked to him earlier and he kept asking about you. I should have
figured he was up to something.”

“It’s alright. He’s
harmless, but I do prefer when I
have
to hang out with him that it’s
in a group. Less date like. The last thing I want is him getting
the notion we might get back together.”

“Speaking of groups, are you coming to
the bluffs tonight?” He eyes the waiter passing by with a fresh
tray of champagne then looks at me with a mischievous
grin.

I clearly know my brother too well.
“Yes, I’ll be your DD tonight.” I take a sip of water to exaggerate
my sacrifice. “But you owe me one.”

“You’re the best, little sis.” Andrew
grabs a new flute from the waiter then heads out to the balcony
where a group of his friends are gathered.

“Ashley, dear,” my mother calls from a
nearby table. “Won’t you come say hello to Mr. Chase?” she says in
a musical tone, although it’s not a question it’s a
command.

I put on my most well mannered smile
before approaching the table where my mother, father, Mr. Chase and
Gregory sit.

“Mr. Chase, how nice to see you
again,” I say as he stands up. He takes my hand in his and kisses
the back of it.

“Ashley, my dear, you have blossomed
into the most beautiful young lady.” From the corner of my eye, I
can see this pleases my mother immensely. “Don’t you agree, son?”
Mr. Chase asks Gregory as he sits back down.

“Absolutely.”

“Thank you.” I force a smile and try
to hide how uncomfortable I feel with everyone’s eyes on me,
especially Gregory’s, by swirling the ice around in my glass. “If
you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go freshen up my drink,” I say,
hoping to escape spending the rest of the evening stuck at the
table.

“I’ll join you.” Gregory
stands and places his hand on my lower back making it stiffen. “If
you’ll excuse
us
.”

I think my mother’s face might crack
in half she’s smiling so big at the way Gregory emphasized the ‘us’
and I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

“A water with lemon please,” I request
from the bartender then try to turn my body away from Gregory’s
lingering hand near my hip.

“Greg, buddy,” Andrew says from behind
me, clamping his hand on Gregory’s shoulder and turning him so I’m
free from his touch. Thank you, Andrew. “Long time no see,” he
jokes, considering they likely saw each other less than a week ago
at school. “So, you all ready to hit it?” Andrew asks, tossing his
keys in my direction, which I catch easily. “Let the old folks do
their thing?” He laughs, and it’s clear he’s partaken in a few more
flutes of the bubbly.

We say a quick goodbye to our parents
who seem pleased enough with our showing then head to the bluffs on
the south end of the island.

I pull off on one of the quiet country
roads that dead ends here, and already at least a dozen cars are
parked on the edge of the lookout where the red clay cliffs drop
off sharply to the aqua water below.

Andrew jumps out of the car the second
I put it into park while I sit and observe the growing group,
regretting my choice of clothes. The wind coming off the ocean is
cool and crisp compared to this afternoon’s heat and my thin
cardigan, and strapless sundress are hardly going to keep me
warm.

“Hey, man,” someone says, gripping the
side of the unrolled driver side window and scaring me half to
death. I let out a yelp before I turn to see which of Andrew’s
friends is to blame when I’m taken aback to see it’s the hot waiter
from lunch this afternoon.

He looks at me with an equal amount of
surprise on his face before he yanks his hands away from the window
and takes a step back.

“I’m…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare
you,” he stammers. “I uh…thought this was Andrew’s car.”

“
No, it is Andrew’s car, I
just drove him here,” I explain. I try to get my heart back to a
normal speed but find it’s more difficult than it should be. I’m
not exactly sure if it’s still pounding from getting scared or from
who just scared me.

Just then, like he could hear us,
which is impossible unless I screamed louder than I thought, Andrew
looks over from a few cars down.

“Hey, Lane, you made it.” He jogs over
and gives the guy, apparently named Lane, a fist bump. “I see you
met my little sister.” Andrew nods his head in my direction before
opening the car door for me to get out. I move to step down, but
it’s no easy feat due to the car’s height paired with the cut of my
dress.

“Here.” Lane’s voice is low and
gravelly as he wraps his warm hand around mine and helps me get
down gracefully. I lift my eyes to meet his, and feel my face flush
from both the unexpected gesture and the smile he’s giving
me.